I'm not afraid to say it. 9, the impressive-looking animated film from first-time director Shane Acker, is actually a post-apocalyptic reinterpretation of The Lord of the Rings. The evidence? There are nine members of the ragdoll "fellowship" in 9 just as there are in The Fellowship of the Ring. There is a talisman of power which the film's heroes must take back to its source. There is an evil force with fantastical creatures under its spell. This force centers around a machine with a giant eye that resides in an area which resembles Mordor more than a little. And, perhaps most obviously, there is an earnest and innocent hero played by Elijah Wood.
     Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Lord of the Rings is the standard-bearer for fantasy fiction. And 9 does carve out its own niche with a dark and detailed post-apocalyptic future. In fact, it is only where the film differs from Lord of the Rings that it really struggles. 9 has an epic story to tell, but attempts to do so in an hour and a half. As a result, it ends up feeling unfinished. The pacing is that of a mindless action movie, but the story and the world it takes place in deserve a more leisurely journey. In expanding his award-winning short into a feature film, Acker should have considered expanding it just a little bit further.
     Despite being somewhat derivative and too fast-paced, there are plenty of aspects of 9 that are impressive. The character design is very well executed. The ragdolls can be differentiated with ease due to their distinct personalities, voices, and appearances. Their robotic enemies are some of the most unique machines seen on film. Terminator Salvation may have been watchable if Skynet had some of these guys on its side. The fights between the ragdolls and the machines are the highlights of the film, as producer Timur Bekmambetov's touch is on display.
     The voice acting is solid, with Christopher Plummer as the stand-out playing "1." Joining him is an all-star cast including Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Martin Landau, Crispin Glover, and the aforementioned Elijah Wood. However, despite the strong voice-work and creative character design, character development ends up being another casualty of the rushed pacing. The dolls' personalities are all rather two dimensional, and they only evolve in the most obvious ways. That might be okay for a kids' movie, but 9 is far too dark for children.
     The best part of the film is the opening 20 minutes, in which there is little to no dialogue. We experience the world in the same order that "9" does as he awakes in this post-apocalyptic world (much like the disorienting opening of Dark City). Slowly, we glean snippets of information about what happened to the world and why these ragdolls exist. Everything seems to be coming together towards a transcendent climax which never comes. The ending is surprisingly cliched for what is otherwise a unique film. The reason to come to 9 is for the fantastic visuals--I only wish there were more reasons to stay.

Buy: 

9

Buy: 

9 [Blu-ray]